Three in court over water meter obstruction in Cork

Three people appeared in court yesterday charged with obstructing Irish Water meter installers in a Cork town last year.

Vincent Cunningham. aged 41, of 12 College Court, College Manor, Cobh; Karen Doyle, aged 44, of Bellevue, Cobh; and Alan Gibson, aged 54, of 5 Donelan Terrace, Cobh, all appeared before Judge Brian Sheridan at Midleton District Court yesterday, where a crowd of supporters gathered with flags and banners outside the courthouse.

All three are charged with obstructing the exercise of Irish Water staff in Cobh on October 30, 2014, contrary to Section 12 of the Water Services Act 2007.

Anne McShane of MJ O’Connor solicitors, who represented all three defendants, requested a copy of statements from gardaí and was granted an adjournment until January 28.

Applications for legal aid were made on behalf of Mr Cunningham and Ms Doyle.

Speaking outside the court, Ms O’Keeffe said she has protested against water charges for five years.

“I really, absolutely, fundamentally believe that water is a human right,” she said. “I believe that we have so much poverty in this country. We have homelessness, we have crises in our healthcare, there is deprivation and poverty everywhere, and now the Government want to introduce a water poverty.

“I object to that as a mother, I object to that as a daughter, as a citizen. I know there will be families who will ration their water as a result of that and I think that that is appalling.”

Also speaking outside the court, Mr Gibson said that water charges are the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for many people during a time of austerity, and this is was reflected in the group who attended the court to offer their support.

“It is very heartening for us, but in another way it is not surprising,” he said. “There has been so much support from people in Cobh and we have people here from East Cork and Cork City. This is still a big issue, despite the Government’s propaganda. We can see that in the non-payment figures, which remain around 50%. People just don’t want to pay.”

After their case was adjourned, Mr Cunningham said he believed the Government could have funded Ireland’s water infrastructure by other means.

“There are other ways to bring in these charges without the way they have done it,” he said.

“They are just trying to shove it down people’s throats and they shouldn’t. If they just came around and asked us all for a few pound every year, we’d have said ‘no problem’. But they’re not putting money into the pipes, so I just think ‘why should my kids pay for it in years to come?’

“At the end of the day, all it is is a bailout for the banks. The Government used money for the bailout, they need to make it back and so this is how they do it.”

Local activist group Cobh Community 4 Change yesterday called on the Director of Public Prosecutions to drop the charges against the trio.

“We call for an end to this vexatious prosecution of these peaceful protestors and community activists,” the group said. “We believe this type of political policing is an erosion of our civil right to protest peacefully and must be opposed by all.”